I bought an XDs several weeks ago. Its real easy to shoot as the video described. I do have one complaint. I bought the all black version. I think the bi-tone with the stainless slide would be better. My black slide is being scared by the casing ejection. The scaring is just in front of the ejection port.

I bought mine over a month ago. After military discount and taxes I paid right around $565 out the door. Despite numerous range trips I haven't bothered to photograph, and subsequently upload, any targets/groupings/what have you.

Out of the box, Springfield hooks you up pretty well. Pistol, OWB paddle holster, OWB dual magazine carrier, two 5-rd magazines, cable lock, bore brush, extra fiber optic rods (red comes installed, has green and extra red to switch between), large and small backstraps, hex key for tightening the holster, test fired casing, and all of the manuals etc, all in a foam lined lockable hard case. Somehow Springfield knew I was going to want extras so there are cutouts for two 7 rd magazine and their extra backstraps, as well as a big cutout for a light, some extra rounds, ear protection, what have you.

I'll admit that with the 5 rd magazine in the pistol, the grip is just a little too short for me. I would say I have medium sized hands. The 7 rd magazine gives about and inch extra, so if you're willing to sacrifice size you can get a much better grip. I just received and installed some Pearce Grips. They ruin the aesthetics slightly and do add a small bit of length but the pinky extension makes it oh so sweet. I have also ordered some Talon Grips. Hopefully they will arrive tomorrow and I can install them and give a follow up.

The sights are nice and easy to acquire in daylight/lower light but in "low light" or darkness, if there isn't light for the fiber optic to take in it'll be the same as regular sight. It's not Tritium, it won't glow on its own. Apparently night sights are available from the usual suspects (Trijicon, Meprolight, TruGlo). I haven't had the opportunity to try any of these out; I'd strongly considering getting some but that'll have to wait. Springfield says the sights are set to hit the target if you "lollipop" it at 25 yds. At 25 feet my impacts were keeping a tight group albeit approximately 2" low. There was some occasional left/right drift but that was my failure as a shooter. As with snub nose revolvers and the like, the combination of short barrel and light weight amplify your mistakes as a shooter. Take the time to practice and learn your weapon. When I excercised proper breathing, sight technique, and trigger squeeze, I was able to move my groups in quite a bit.

Disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly is pie. Lock the slide to the rear, rotate the takedown lever one quarter turn clockwise to the 12 o'clock position, ride the slide forward, pull the trigger, take the slide off, push the recoil spring out, take the barrel out, done. Everything in reverse to put it back.

I haven't had my hands on enough firearms, nor do I have the "feel" for triggers, to tell you if this is smooth or gritty or short or long or what have you. I find the trigger pull easy enough and consistent with a short reset. Rapid fire is controllable but takes some getting used to. I'm sure the guys with snub .357s will be better right away than those used to the FsN.

Before I purchased it I had read reviews saying that it would sometimes hang up trying to feed a round if racking the slide or using the slide release. I saw a few of these when I first played with it but that was almost always with hollowpoints and what I learned was you need to really RIP the slide. Now that it's had a few hundred rounds through and I've figured out the tricks I've had zero problems. I also have not had a single issue while actually firing. Give it some time to break in and remember that this is meant to be used; don't baby it and you should be good to go. I will say though, it has ran EVERY round I put through it. Winchester white box FMJ, WWB HP, Federal, Hornady, Magtech, PMC, Remington.

Initially I was carrying in the paddle holster provided. I have since moved to a Galco IWB leather holster. A very light, very basic holster. It supports the weapon well. I am 5' 11" and 174 lbs and I can conceal the XD-S in a t-shirt and basketball shorts. I can feel the weight enough to confirm the weapon is on me but loaded 5+1 it is not even remotely a bother. I've had no issues with shifting or slipping or anything. One thing, at least with my Galco, is that I have had a single instance of accidentally pressing the magazine release. The magazine didn't fall out, but it was no longer seating. In all my equipments defense, I was trying to carry it at the small of my back while driving. Again, carrying it strong side IWB for three weeks this has never happened. I just ordered a Recluse Holster for front pocket carry, and I'll update when that arrives. I'd also like to get something like a MTAC Minotaur since it is adjustable for cant and I like a slight forward cant, but for now the Galco fits my needs.

I'm sure there are plenty of aspects I'm failing to mention. As I think of them I'll try to add them. As things change I'll try to update them. If you folks have any questions I'll do my best to address them. If you want me to try something, I might be able to.

Got the Talon Grips in today. Very easy to install. Took me a little while but I was trying to be careful, so it was me not them. I got the rubberized ones and they are fantastic. I'd say for the whopping $40 or something that I spent for two Pearce grips, a Talon pistol grip, and two Talon magazines grips, it's the best $40 you can put into (onto?) this gun. They have made an already comfortable gun exceptional. Now to see if I can rig up some Talons on my Pearce grips...I'll follow up with a range report after I try these out.

Second on the slam the slide home. If you ride it depending upon ammo you may jam up. One of my mates just picked one up recently and has been experiencing that. His Beretta allows him to release the slide slowly and still successfully chambers a round. Not with this XD-S.

fd57 wrote:Second on the slam the slide home. If you ride it depending upon ammo you may jam up. One of my mates just picked one up recently and has been experiencing that. His Beretta allows him to release the slide slowly and still successfully chambers a round. Not with this XD-S.

For serious.

Also, I forget if I mentioned it, you have to really rip it to clear the chamber too. The recoil of a round firing definitely brings the slide far enough back to eject+load the next one but you have to be forceful to do it by hand. One thing with this, I could it leading to some FTF/FTE issues if someone is limpwristing. Remind me next time I go to the range and I'll see if I can purposely limpwrist and make it jam.

I don't prefer XDs, but I will try the XDS since you like it so much, Pain.

I have to +1 for Talon grips. I always shrug off overplayed stippling and "latest greatest tactical grip tape that will lower recoil and make your gun more accurate" products.

The Talon grips work. I have used them many times.

For my personal Glock, I use electrical tape or hockey tape, however. I'll shoot whatever gun in whatever configuration, so it doesn't matter to me. I do prefer the grip not to be very grippy, which is why, unlike the majority of shooters who like stippling and gripper grips, I use smoother tape over any texture.

Even in snow and water, I've never found gripping the gun to be a problem. Maybe it's because I play the violin and the biomechanics of gripping transferred over? I don't know

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
The shooter will always matter more than the gear ever will.
Stop relying on others to do the work for you.
Shoot more, worry less.

Got the AmeriGlo night sights installed today. AND the great folks at Talon Grips sent me some scrap so that I could put it on my Pearce Grip pinky extensions. To top it off, one of my local shops had this belly band holster on clearance that they sold me for $10. I can carry with it crossdraw and feel like a fed or small of the back and feel like John McClane...even though he Christmas taped it up high. It also makes me look skinny Besides, any time I can get something for $10 it's a win. I hope, and my wallet hopes, that we're done buying stuff for this gun. Still waiting on the Recluse pocket holster so there will be at least one more post/review.

More pics and range report. Added some of the Talon tape to the slide in place of forward serrations, and to the trigger guard right where your finger sits when it's straight and off the trigger; gives me a place to rest and serves as a guide for newer shooters.

And range report:

Finally got to the range today. First time with the AmeriGlo night sights, Talon Grips, and Pearce Grips, and using Frog Lube. The fella that installed the sights did a good job, they were right where I wanted them! The pinky grip made the 5 rounder much better to shoot and the grip was definitely more comfortable to shoot for the duration and gave a solid grip even through blood and lube (more on that later). I'll hit all these thought by thought.

Sights: The orange ring of the front sight was nice and easy to acquire. I didn't get a chance to try low light so no report yet on actually firing using the night sight. The rears on this set have no dots but I didn't even notice while I was shooting. At no point did I think "I need to line up with the rear dots", it was all very instinctive finding the front sight. My only concern is at night, having only the front. But the gun points very naturally so I trust in myself to orient the gun properly.

Frog Lube: Seemed to work fine. Smelled minty fresh. I'm in the process of cleaning her up right now but the gunk seems to wipe right off so hopefully I can wipe the fouling off, wipe the FL on, and call it a night. I must have put it on a tad heavy because it seemed dry (as in not seeping out) before I started shooting but as it heated up some started running out of the gun. All in all, no complaints.

Grips: Zero shifting or peeling. Felt more comfortable and less aggressive while still providing a nice grip. I put my support hand too high up on one shot and the knuckle of my thumb got caught as the slide went back. Between the blood on my left hand and the lube on my right I still had no issues hanging on.

Put about 150 rounds through, mostly WWB JHP and FMJs, as well as a box of Hornady Critical Defense 185gr FTX.

I had three issues. One was a jam when my mother failed to rack the slide fully. Operator error. I also had two rounds of WWB FMJ fail to feed and basically stovepipe the loaded round, with the cartridge vertical and the bullet out the chamber. This happened in the middle of a 7rd mag, two different magazines. They also happened consecutively as in fired a whole mag with the jam, then the next mag I had a jam as well. This was in the middle of the session so I had flawlessly fired rounds on both ends of this. Given that it was the same problem, two different mags. I blame myself. Out of 400+ rounds these are the only problems I have encountered while firing. I can live with a 0.5% error rate, especially because I'm near certain it was ME not the machine.

The web of my hand was a little red and sore after shooting but nothing unmanageable. Like others have said, it's not really a "shoot all day" pistol.

Last but not least the failure drills (two center of mass and a follow up head shot) were quite successful. I shot at one of the targets that is supposed to tell you which way you pull your shots. After getting a few in the center for calibration purposes I did 20 round rapid fire. All in the 6" circle with about half in the center and the other split between low left and low right. It's where it should be and I need to practice trigger control. In the hands of a better shooter than myself it was keeping near the groupings of a 5" 1911 and a Stoeger Cougar (Beretta 8045). I'm a little more impressed every day!

It's a .45ACP. With the shorty feed ramp and stiff springs, short slide, etc, it has to fully cycle to eject and load the rounds. Which is why before it was broken in, if you used the slide lock to release the slide, it would jam; you had to slingshot the slide and let it slam, because the spring needed every bit of force (at least that's how I understand it). Anyway, I'm guessing I limpwristed or in some way transferred the force somewhere other than the slide. Gave it enough the eject but not enough to get the round in. I really have no clue since it's only happened twice and I don't know what I did. It was an easy fix just annoying.

If the gun is oversprung, that is dumb. It's a .45. Their fault. You already know my opinion on XD's. But on the return, I also respect your decision to get one, and am not attacking you in anyway for getting one.

This is what I know from what you have said:

1. You have to slingshot instead of use slide release, or it'll jam
2. You used WWB FMJ, and it jammed with it on a couple occasions

This leads me to believe (as well as I can over the interwebs):

Since it isn't an FN (Flat nosed)/SWC round, and it is .45 ACP FMJ ball, the gun/design is out of spec for the WWB ammo. THE COAL is too long and the feedramp is too steep for it.... if there is a feedramp. Pulling that slide back is giving more clearance.

TEST:

Do this. Load the magazine into the gun with the slide locked back. Look at where the nose of the round is, in relation to the chamber/ramp. Note the angle. Now, use the slide release to release the slide. If the problem is what I described, the round should make the gun jam at least 1/10 times. I always teach to "slingshot" and never use the slide release (we use it in competition to make the reloads faster, but it's NOT the right way. Always pull the slide back and release. I actually have my slide releases dremeled off, so I HAVE to slingshot. This is because my aggressive grip never allows the slide to lock back).

.02

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
The shooter will always matter more than the gear ever will.
Stop relying on others to do the work for you.
Shoot more, worry less.

I'll get a picture of it all later when I feel like messing with uploads, but with the slide locked back and using the slide release to chamber it, using WWB FMJ, I had 0/12 jams just now. The original "required to slingshot" was in the break in phase.

Again, I have no less love for the pistol. I just see it as two little hiccups. I'm going again Monday so we'll see what another hundred or two rounds do.

Another update. Took my little sister to the range last week; I should have brought peanut butter, we had plenty of jams. First time she had shot anything larger than a 9mm and first time shooting a subcompact.

When we started out it was cycling fine but her trigger mechanics were terrible. As we worked through those I think her hand and arm started getting tired because it started having light strikes/failure to feeds/failure to reenter batterys every shot or every other shot. Whenever I would tell her to suck it up and hold the pistol tight she would be able to finish out a mag. Her shot placement got pretty good but lots of problems with the pistol. It didn't worry me because I knew that it was limp-wristing and fatigue.

It continued to shoot flawlessly for me, with a few exceptions. For the second time both 7-rd magazines gave me a jam around the 3rd or 4th round, using both WWB FMJs and JHPs. I don't know what is causing it but they have been temporarily retired. The 5-rd magazines still kick A. I shot two handed, one handed both left and right, sideways, and it all worked fine for me.

I still love my Ameriglo Hack sights. Nice and easy to acquire. Also while the Talon grips may LOOK kind of cheap and ugly (in my opinion) they make it WAY nicer to shoot. Same with the Pearce.

Long story short, for anyone watching the gun would seem finnicky but I still have full confidence in carrying it.

And I believe that you REALLY REALLY REALLY do NOT want to admit to yourself that you need a new carry gun, because this the XDS is unreliable. I can see limp-wristing causing troubles, but not troubles like light-strikes. That's not good.

I know how it is to REALLY REALLY like a gun, and not want to give up on it, no matter what people say. How all the awesomeness of it makes any "problems" or "mis-operations" look like minuscule blips. TRUST ME. I KNOW how it feels, and no matter how rigid I am about what guns I own, and how they have to work in every environment and role, I have made one exception in the past, on a gun that didn't work correctly. I worked on it, till it worked correctly.

But one day, you'll send me a message, and say, "Hate to say it... but I retired her and we now just shoot her on the range, for fun. I carry another gun."

Again, NO animosity whatsoever, from me. I just wanna see you be safe, and carry a gun that is more reliable. I get that you like the XDS, a lot. I'm not hatin, at all. I am empathizing

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
The shooter will always matter more than the gear ever will.
Stop relying on others to do the work for you.
Shoot more, worry less.

Haha. I still love it. I'm not in a state of denial, yet. Maybe some day, and that worries me, but not yet. And the light strike are caused by the slide not fully returning forward, well documented on XDTalk as being either limp-wristing or dirty striker channels. Hasn't happened to me in my many hundreds of rounds, only my sister. Having trained as many people as you have, you know how you can start seeing the mistakes and predicting the failures before they happen? I finally experienced that. Again, the 7 round magazines are taken out of the carry rotation. I can admit when something isn't working and they are not but I'm not ready to give up on my pocket cannon yet.

If I ever lock it in a safe somewhere, you're more than welcome to say I told you so